


It's All Good Now

by maelstromdeparture



Series: Spirit of the Sea [8]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Assassins & Hitmen, Blood and Injury, Brothers, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Mentioned NCT Ensemble, Mermaids, Murder, Past Abuse, Pirates, Prophetic Visions, Sirens, Violence, like a lot of violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27278737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maelstromdeparture/pseuds/maelstromdeparture
Summary: The Levanter lands in India. New people and experiences abound, Felix settles into life with the Levanter, they run into old friends and old enemies. The Levanter's mission finds its close as they finally catch up with the Lady Marietta, but the Whiplash brings word from Tortuga and perhaps things aren't slowing down for the Levanter quite yet.
Series: Spirit of the Sea [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1927246
Comments: 26
Kudos: 60





	It's All Good Now

**Author's Note:**

> hello this is the one we have all been waiting for  
> violent pirate shenanigans abound
> 
> WARNINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
> -mentioned implied past abuse/rape you've read the others you know what you're in for  
> -mentioned dismemberment. not described  
> -mentioned beheading....slightly described  
> -mention of blood. a lot of blood. like no really. a lot of blood.  
> -murder/revenge/justice whatever you would like to call it
> 
> if i have missed any warnings pls let me know so i can add them 
> 
> enjoy :)

Sailing for India was perhaps one of the most peaceful journeys so far. Even though the anticipation of finally catching up with the Lady Marietta was high, a peace that the Levanter rarely saw had settled over the ship. Felix fit into the crew like the missing piece he was and opened up quickly, flourishing now that he wasn’t holding himself back. The Levanter had always been home but now it was complete. Though he certainly brought his own brand of chaos with him. Apparently the bag Felix had packed with essentials was not just clothes, but also consisted of a book for Seungmin on pressure points and easy ways to kill with your bare hands, it looked handwritten as if someone had translated it, there were many different kinds of knives and several throwing knives, one small set of bow and arrow, a dart blower, and several jars of herbs and liquids that Hyunjin had been very curious about and even more excited to learn they were poisons, also inside was the necklace Hyunjin had been in the process of buying for Jeongin in the market to which both Hyunjin and Jeongin were happy about having. It took a couple weeks to get to Kochi, India, the port that came up repeatedly in the book Seungmin had gotten from the Twilight pirates. And in that time Felix felt like he had finally gotten the hang of sailing for the most part and the others had found he was a lot of fun to spar with and there was a lot they could learn about fighting still. Even as they drew closer to the port of Kochi the peaceful joy that had settled over the Levanter in the past few weeks didn’t dissipate for anticipation. There were hundreds of ships in the port when they arrived and none of them had been expecting it to be so large as they landed and tied to the dock.

“So do we have a plan for finding them?” asked Changbin looking at the number of ships.

“Ask around, I guess,” said Chan shaking his head. “I wasn’t expecting it to be this big.”

“Kochi is a spice trading center worldwide and has been for centuries,” said Seungmin, “it’s fascinating actually. It was a Portuguese colony until recently and it’s currently Dutch unless the British have bothered to take it over yet. It’s a matter of time I suppose.”

“That’s impressive in and of itself,” said Hyunjin, “Britain’s a tiny island kingdom and they’ve taken like half the world.”

“It’s annoying mostly,” said Minho shaking his head.

“Either way, Kochi has a rich history of being a merchant port. People have been sailing for Kochi from all over the world for centuries. The Chinese Admiral Zheng He stopped here with his treasure fleet.”

“With his what?” asked Jisung frowning. “Who?”

“Admiral Zheng He?” asked Felix trying to keep up with the Korean. “Is that a person?”

“ _Was a person,_ ” said Seungmin shaking his head. “ _He was a Chinese admiral during the Ming dynasty that traveled the world in a giant ship full of treasure dropping treasures off wherever they stopped, basically a look how great and successful we are trip, but unlike the Europeans didn’t require taking over entire countries of people that already live there._ ”

“How do you know this?” asked Chan looking confused but proud at the same time.

“Oh, it was in one of the books I picked up recently,” said Seungmin nodding. “One of the Korean ones, it had been translated from Chinese I think. Really interesting stuff. A lot of really good information, and way better info on India than anything I could get my hands on when I still lived with my dad. The British mostly complain about the heat, the animals, the relgion, and everything else that made them want to explore India in the first place and from what I can tell the Portuguese and the Dutch aren’t much better.”

“Well, can’t say I’ve ever been to a Dutch port,” said Changbin leaning over the side to look around.

“With the size of this place there’s probably an enormous market,” said Hyunjin.

“And lots of food to try,” said Jisung nodding in agreement.

“Alright, groups of two and we meet back here by sundown,” said Chan nodding.

“Dibs on Felix,” said Hyunjin brightly looping his arm through Felix’s and Felix laughed as the others paired off.

“Stay safe, have fun, don’t end up in prison,” called Chan as the groups of them headed off down the docks.

“This should be fun,” said Hyunjin brightly and Felix nodded. He adjusted the green strip of cloth tied around his wrist hiding his brands and then carefully pulled out of Hyunjin’s grip to hold his hand instead so they had more range of movement.

“Let’s eat lots,” he said and Hyunjin nodded in agreement.

“All the food,” he said, “and jewelry, I want to look at jewelry and clothes, everything I’ve seen from India on ships is beautiful. And we should look at spices.”

“Poison?” asked Felix.

“We can look for that too,” agreed Hyunjin. “Seungminnie said there are a lot of snakes here.”

“Snakes. _Snake?_ ” asked Felix and Hyunjin nodded. “Exciting.” Hyunjin laughed at that and the two of them hurried off the docks, briefly being stopped by an official asking where they had tied up and the two of them pausing to explain their captain would be along soon and to talk to him. Once past the official at the docks it wasn’t long before they were in the busy streets of Kochi.

“Seungmin looking for books,” said Felix and Hyunjin nodded.

“ _Seungmin will find a bookstore,_ ” he said in agreement and then repeated it in Korean for Felix who nodded trying to commit the phrase to memory. His Korean had made leaps and bounds of improvement over the past few weeks that had added up to a total of just over two months of Felix working on learning the language. He had managed entire conversations in it recently and had been very excited about it. It didn’t take them long to find the market. It was very large and colorful and loud. There was people shouting, laughing, haggling, and music playing. There were stalls that sold a little of everything and they had a great time trying different foods and buying spices to add to their collection. Their bags slowly started to fill with little bottles of dried spices and other plants. Felix had very excitedly found a somewhat shady stall that had all kinds of knives and a very small selection of poison that the stall owner had offered to show them upon deciding they weren’t soldiers. Felix had bought one after the three of them had struggled through exactly what the effects of it were in a combination of languages, but he had walked away from the stall with several new knives in different styles and metals. They had also bought a couple different brightly colored clothes for each of them and then found themselves at a stall for body art while looking for jewelry. Hyunjin bought several different earrings as well as a set he thought Seungmin would like and the woman running the stall offered to do piercings for them.

“ _You look like travelers,_ ” she stated curious, “ _where are you from?_ ”

“ _Here and there,_ ” said Hyunjin, “ _I’m from some tiny British Colony out in the Caribbean, and Felix is from Australia._ ”

“ _Wow, so far from home,_ ” she said, “ _you do not look European?_ ”

“ _Both our parents were Korean. Or are,_ ” said Hyunjin glancing at Felix. “Your parents are alive aren’t they?”

“Yes,” said Felix nodding. “ _Dad’s about right now, traveling for work, but mom was back home when we were in Sydney earlier. I’m supposed to send her a letter._ ”

“ _Were? I’m sorry for your loss,_ ” said the girl and Hyunjin nodded.

“ _You wouldn’t be,_ ” he said shrugging. “ _I was too young to remember my dad and they killed my mother for witchcraft. Kinda sucks having my only memory of my mom being the day they drowned her._ ”

“ _Wow,_ ” said the girl surprised. “ _People do that? For a witch?_ ”

“ _For a suspected witch,_ ” said Felix shaking his head. “ _Hyunjin’s mom knew medicine._ ”

“ _I can’t imagine,_ ” said the girl shaking her head. “ _We don’t have witch executions here. Or I suppose the Dutch haven’t started them yet._ ”

“ _That’s great. Hopefully they won’t,_ ” said Hyunjin nodding and the girl shrugged.

“ _May not make a difference. We don’t really have witches,_ ” she said. “ _Or people that are accused of witchcraft. You’re piercings are very well done. Where did you get them done?_ ” Hyunjin shrugged.

“ _It was probably a pirate port. We don’t really make a point to stop in specific ports so sometimes we end up in sketchy places,_ ” he said, “ _it was Spanish speaking mainly actually._ ”

“ _Sounds exciting,_ ” she said. “ _It must be so much fun to travel the world. Would you like more piercings? I’d be happy to do some for you or for your friend._ ”

“ _Do you want piercings, Lix?_ ” asked Hyunjin. “Piercings?” Felix hesitated before nodding.

“ _Can you just do two on this ear?_ ” he asked tugging on his left ear and the girl nodded. It took a couple minutes for her to place them where he wanted and only a couple more from there to actually get his ears pierced with pretty earrings put in.

“Looks good, Lixie,” said Hyunjin brightly. “ _Can you pierce my lip? Our brother has his tongue pierced and I want something like that._ ”

“ _Absolutely,_ ” agreed the girl nodding and gesturing for him to take a seat. It’s another few minutes of waiting before Hyunjin has a ring in his lower lip. They both pay the girl who thanks them cheerfully. Felix pulls Hyunjin to a short stop before they leave the stall though, an older woman who is likely the girl’s grandmother is finishing up a design on someone’s skin.

“ _That’s not a tattoo,_ ” said Felix to Hyunjin.

“ _It’s called Henna,_ ” said the girl. “ _It’s temporary, it will stain your skin for a few days and then wash off. It has healing and cooling properties. It’s tradition and very beautiful. We use it for many things as do many other cultures around._ _Would you like to try?_ ” Felix glanced down at his bandaged right wrist and the green cloth tied over the left one.

“Not a good idea,” he said softly.

“No. If you want to do it then we do it,” said Hyunjin determinedly. “ _I’ll go first if you want._ ”

“ _I don’t know, Jin,_ ” said Felix shaking his head. “ _Last time we stopped somewhere, hyung, said not to take them off._ ”

“ _That was a tiny British port in Africa,_ ” said Hyunjin nodding. “ _It’s much different here. And they’re definitely not going to be as judgey._ ”

“ _I figured you were pirates before you bought the jewelry,_ ” offered the girl shrugging. “ _If that’s what you’re hiding under that bracelet, a pirate brand. Couple of the trading companies brand pirates that stole from them. As long as you’re good business and don’t cause us trouble we don’t really care. You’re not even the first Korean pirates I’ve seen today._ ”

“ _Would it hide scars?_ ” asked Felix hesitantly.

“ _I can’t say. I’ve never tried,_ ” she said. “ _I don’t think so. But it could distract from them._ ”

“Do you want to do it?” asked Hyunjin. Felix glanced at the sky to decide how much time they had before nodding.

“Okay,” he said. Hyunjin cheered brightly and the girl got them both sitting down translating for her grandmother and introducing them. The grandmother talked cheerfully to them with her translating as she painted up Hyunjin’s hands and arms to his elbows. She didn’t pause to comment on the faint scarring around his wrists, though she did wish him luck and blessings when she finished with him.

“Ready?” asked Hyunjin and Felix chewed on his lip but nodded and sat down, pushing his sleeves up. The woman started on his right hand and Felix unwrapped the bandage for her so she could work on it. The girl’s eyes visibly widened since Felix’s scar was much worse than Hyunjin’s was, but neither of them said anything about it. Hyunjin carefully untied the cloth from Felix’s left wrist when the woman was ready to go over it on the other side and retied it higher up his arm so it was out of the way but wouldn’t get lost. The woman did pause then fingers brushing over the brands in his skins.

“ _She says you have been through great troubles and she admires your strength in the face of adversity,”_ said the girl, translating for her grandmother. “ _We wish you the best of luck for happiness in the future._ ”

“ _Thanks, but I’m pretty sure I’m the happiest I’ll ever get,_ ” said Felix nodding. “ _I chose to sail with this crew. They’re why I got to go home._ ” The woman finished with the henna on Felix and Hyunjin tried to pay for Felix’s as well only to have the woman insist on not taking his money.

“ _Grandmother says it is a gift from her to you,_ ” insisted the girl nodding. “ _We will not take your money. Is there anything else we can do for you?_ ” Hyunjin hesitated a moment before nodding.

“ _Have you heard of a ship called the Lady Marietta? Captained by a man named Hendricks?_ ” asked Hyunjin and the girl nodded.

“ _Yes, actually. They come here quite often. They landed in port about a week ago and will probably be here for at least another two,_ ” she said nodding.

“ _Do you know where we could find them?_ ” asked Hyunjin looking at Felix with wide eyes and then back at the girl.

“ _They normally stay at Rose Garden Inn to the East,_ ” said the girl nodding. “ _It’s near most of the taverns and brothels. Not really a respectable place for a merchant ship to stay, but nevertheless that’s where you can normally find them. They’re not a very friendly crew. Why are you looking for them?_ ” Felix bounced excitedly at the news and hugged Hyunjin tightly.

“Fucking shit we’re so close,” he said adrenaline at the thought of being that much closer to justice making him giddy. Hyunjin laughed and hugged him back.

“ _We’ve been searching for them for years,_ ” said Hyunjin nodding. “ _They abduct kids and sell them into slavery. Hendricks is evil and someone needs to be his reckoning. May as well be us. Thank you for all your help._ ” The girl nodded looking conflicted for a moment before her eyes darted back to Felix’s wrist and she nodded more firmly.

“ _Good luck,_ ” she said. “ _Can I pray for you?_ ”

“ _Oh, sure?_ ” said Hyunjin. The girl prayed for them without further explanation and they both thanked her before moving on. It was time to head back to the Levanter. They made it all the way out of the market and halfway to the dock before someone stopped them.

“Hyunjin-ssi?” called a voice and Hyunjin turned to look and waved cheerfully.

“Mark-ssi,” he greeted, “what are you doing in India?”

“Looking for traders,” said Mark moving closer, Donghyuck and Ten were both with him.

“Better question, why is the Levanter in India?” asked Donghyuck, “hello, by the way. How’s the fish?”

“His name’s Jeongin and he’s good,” said Hyunjin nodding. “We’re headed back if you want to come. We really can’t just stop to talk in the middle of the road like this. We’re supposed to be back by sunset. And we have news.”

“News? You’re with the Levanter?” asked Ten curious eyes looking over both of them critically.

“Chan-hyung’s crew,” said Donghyuck and Ten’s face lit up.

“Oh! That’s great,” he said and the paused. “Wait, Chan’s captain of the Levanter? Like the Levanter, Levanter.”

“Yes,” said Mark nodding. “Did we not tell you?”

“You said you helped the crew of the Levanter with a merman rescue, you said nothing about Channie,” said Ten. “I am so telling Tae.”

“We thought we mentioned him,” said Donghyuck shaking his head. “Ah, who’s this, Hyunjin-ah? He wasn’t with you last time.”

“This is Felix,” said Hyunjin nodding. “He’s only been with us for like two months. His Korean’s way better but he’s still working on it.”

“Oh? Where are you from?” asked Ten curious.

“Australia,” said Felix nodding.

“ _Where’d they find you?_ ” asked Mark as the group started walking towards the docks.

“ _The Scarlett Lady,_ ” said Felix.

“ _You were working on the Scarlett Lady? They were attacked recently, people were saying it was Epiphany related,_ ” said Ten.

“ _I wasn’t working on the Scarlett Lady,_ ” said Felix shaking his head.

“And it was Epiphany related technically. They’re brother crew, Crown, needed help getting their youngest back from being abducted. We sorta volunteered,” said Hyunjin nodding.

“Crown. Haven’t met them yet, anything notable?” asked Ten.

“Young,” said Hyunjin. “Younger than most of us. And small. But they were good kids and have potential.” Donghyuck was busy looking at the henna admiringly and almost missed Felix’s brands.

“The henna looks badass. I always want to do it and then never do,” said Donghyuck followed by a soft, “oh.”

“You really weren’t working on the Scarlett Lady. Fuck the Scarlett Lady was involved in slavery?” asked Donghyuck and Ten frowned and looked for Felix’s wrists. Felix stepped closer to Hyunjin and his jaw set ready for whatever fight was coming now.

“Oh, hey, how’d you earn that mark? Mine’s cause my father is a crime lord in China,” said Ten tugging up his own sleeve to show off his own scorpion brand though his numbers were above the brand not below, a set of repeated tens. “Chenle’s got one too. His family have been trained to be imperial warriors for centuries now.”

“I thought you were Thai,” said Mark frowning.

“Oh I am,” said Ten nodding, “but my father is in China. He’s probably still in China, not that I really care.”

“ _My parents are assassins,_ ” said Felix softly. “ _What ship were you on?_ ”

“ _La Marina,_ ” said Ten, “it was Spanish.”

“I knew someone from that ship,” said Felix nodding. “He was Chinese too.” 

“Yeah, there were a lot of us on the ship for awhile,” said Ten quietly nodding. “Most of us didn’t make it to others from there. Your friend must have been one of the stronger ones.” Felix shrugged.

“I don’t know,” he said, “he sorta bit someone so he was always gagged.” Ten snickered.

“Hope he bit them really good then,” he said nodding. “Definitely the sorta thing I would’ve done. What ship were you on?”

“The Lady Marietta,” said Felix his lips pulling into a smile.

“Why is that a good thing?” asked Donghyuck cocking his head, “you’re smiling.”

“They’re in port here and we know how to find them,” said Hyunjin grinning. “We’re so close now. Closer than we’ve ever been before.” The docks appeared ahead of them and it wasn’t long until they were walking towards the Levanter on the dock.

“Need back up?” asked Mark eyes lighting up at the possibility of getting to help them again.

“It’s just a trade crew,” said Hyunjin shaking his head. “Easy stuff. But you could always ask hyung.” Jeongin and Seungmin were together down the dock and headed towards the Levanter as well and waved when they caught sight of them. The other four had apparently already returned to the Levanter and Jisung was leaning over the side watching for them and spotted Seungmin and Jeongin first and yelled back up the ship that he’d seen them.

“Wait, how big is your crew?” asked Ten looking to Hyunjin.

“Just the eight of us,” said Hyunjin nodding and Ten nodded.

“It’s weird to think that Chan’s built his own crew and isn’t jumping from ship to ship anymore,” said Ten nodding, “he always had a tendency to be somewhat of a stray and drop off other strays on the rest of us.”

“Are you calling me a stray?” asked Mark raising an eyebrow.

“Aren’t you?” asked Ten smirking and Donghyuck chuckled.

“He didn’t exactly stop that,” said Hyunjin cocking his head. “Minho-hyung’s an ex-slave, Changbin-hyung’s a thief and a runaway apprentice, I’m a witch, Jisung’s a prophet, Felix is an assassin and an ex-slave, Seungmin’s a runaway governor’s son, and Jeongin’s a merman. Technically we’re all strays to begin with.”

“Sounds like chaos,” said Ten grinning. They reached the side of the Levanter as Jisung was yelling back to Chan that the rest of them were here. The rest of the Levanter crew gathered near the rail.

“Look me and Seungmin-hyung found a bookstore,” said Jeongin holding up the books he was carrying in his arms.

“ _Lix, I found anatomy books and poison books and a book about thrown projectiles of various kinds,_ ” said Seungmin holding his own stack of books. “ _Is it true that the Native Australians use some sort of wooden weapon that comes back when you throw it? How does that even work? What’s the physics of that? There’s not a string attached?_ ”

“ _Boomerang,_ ” said Felix nodding, “ _I’ve got one in my bag somewhere, I’ll show you later. I have no idea how it works. I just know how to work it and no there’s not a string._ ”

“You’ve been hiding fancy projectile weapons?” complained Minho from where he was hanging over the railing.

“ _It’s wood it’s not fancy,_ ” said Felix shaking his head and climbing up the rope. “ _Uh, we found friends I guess?_ _Hyunjin says you all know them?_ ”

“Who? Oh! Hi,” called Chan joining them at the side of the ship. “Coming up or are we all going to continue to have a yelled conversation?”

“I’m going to yell anyway,” declared Ten. “How come, we one haven’t heard hardly anything from you in years, Chan, and two didn’t know you were the captain of the Levanter?”

“Mark and the kids didn’t tell you?” asked Chan surprised.

“Thought we did, guess it got lost in the excitement of everything going on,” said Mark nodding as he followed Hyunjin up to the deck.

“Oh hey! You don’t remember us for sure. You were unconscious,” said Donghyuck to Jeongin. “Are you doing okay now? You didn’t want to go home?”

“Oh, were you part of the crew with the octopus?” asked Jeongin perking up. “I’m alright, yes. And my pod kicked me out a few months before I got caught so no one to go home too.”

“You remember Jisung but not the rest of us,” complained Donghyuck. “Am I not cute enough?”

“You’re a menace, Haechannie,” said Chan nodding.

“Being thrown by a giant tentacle from one ship to another is really the only thing I remember about leaving the Cupid’s Promise for the Levanter,” said Jeongin as he joined the rest of them on deck. Seungmin was right behind him and Mark took up the rear.

“I mean, that left a lasting impression on me for sure,” said Jisung nodding. “Can’t say I’ve ever been tentacle thrown before that and as awesome as it was, it’d be nice not to have to do that again.”

“You blew up the Cupid’s Promise?” asked Ten raising his eyebrows at Mark. “That’s what you did with the Levanter? You went after fucking Aucoin?”

“Yes?” said Mark sheepishly and Ten laughed.

“Why didn’t you tell us that?” he asked.

“You’re not mad?” asked Donghyuck baffled. “What the hell, hyung?”

“Why would we be mad? Do you have any idea how fucking proud Tae would be?” asked Ten still laughing at the two of them who just looked baffled.

“Oh! That’s cool, Hyunjin, Felix. Where’d you find that?” asked Minho gesturing to their arms.

“ _Felix-ah, you took your bandages off?_ ” asked Jisung eyebrows furrowing. Felix nodded hesitantly.

“Yeah. Hyunjin thought it would be okay,” he said nodding. “ _And I really wanted the henna and couldn’t do that and keep everything covered. There was a really cool stall. I got my ear pierced too, see! And Hyunjin did his lip. The girl and her grandma that ran the stall were super nice._ ”

“ _They wouldn’t let us pay for Lix’s henna either,_ ” said Hyunjin nodding. “They were awesome.”

“ _And. And. And. We have news!_ ” said Felix bouncing excitedly. “ _Oh, also I got new poison, Seungmin-ah, it’s from some kind of a snake. But that’s not the news. The Lady Marietta is here and we know where the crew is._ ”

“ _We found the ship further down the dock, it looked mostly empty,_ ” volunteered Jisung nodding.

“Cause the whole crew is up at Rose Garden Inn,” said Hyunjin grinning. Minho’s face lit up and he pulled Hyunjin into a tight hug excitedly.

“Really?” he asked excitedly. “Hendricks too?”

“Yes,” said Felix nodding practically vibrating with energy and excitement.

“I still get to slit his throat, right?” asked Minho turning to Chan.

“All yours,” said Chan nodding and Minho whooped and then halted and turned to Felix.

“Wait, _do you want to kill him?_ ” he asked and Felix shook his head.

“ _You called dibs already. But I want the quartermaster,_ ” said Felix and Minho nodded grinning and pulled the nearest crew member into a hug, Changbin who made a surprised squawking noise but hugged him back.

“Tonight then?” asked Jisung turning his attention to Chan.

“Yeah. Guess we’ll split four and four and four to the inn and four to the ship,” said Chan frowning. “I’d rather not have to split up though.”

“We’ll take the ship,” offered Ten, “that way the ship still gets burned and you don’t have to split up.”

“Oh. That actually might be better,” said Chan nodding. “You don’t need to run that by hyung?”

“He will be on board very quickly when I tell him it’s the Lady Marietta. Where’d you see the ship?” asked Ten. “Also, how come it’s not common knowledge that the Levanter is hunting for them?”

“Because people still mostly believe we’re a ghost story,” offered Changbin. Ten nodded and turned back to Chan.

“You’ve heard that there’s a meeting in Tortuga in two months, yeah?” he asked.

“We’re not with an alliance,” said Chan shaking his head. “We don’t meet the year requirement yet.”

“No. For all pirates,” said Ten shaking his head. “A real summit not just and alliance meeting. Hyung heard it through the grapevine. We got it from one of the Medusa crew members, apparently some bigshot British fellow called it. Don’t remember his name and I don’t really care. But everyone who’s a pirate is going to be there. Something about important information on world Navy’s. And well, it’s an official call to Tortuga so it’s not like you can just miss it and then not be treated like a spy for the law.” Chan frowned and nodded.

“Okay, we’ll make sure we’re there,” said Chan. “When?”

“Third Saturday of August,” said Ten and Chan nodded.

“Okay,” he said. “I’m going to assume you don’t know if the Twilight has been told.”

“I can’t say I’ve ever met the Twilight,” said Ten and the others agreed they hadn’t either.

“Well, we’ll check then,” said Chan frowning.

“What about Crown?” asked Minho crossing his arms. “Do we need to find them too?”

“No, Epiphany will take care of them,” said Chan shaking his head. “Not our place to worry about them, but Twilight’s like us, no one they’re tied too.”

“Aren’t you tied to Got7?” asked Mark frowning.

“And Twice,” said Haechan nodding.

“I thought you were with JYP,” said Ten in agreement.

“Not officially,” said Chan shaking his head. “And not in the same way Crown is tied to Epiphany, they’re officially their brother ship. We’re just friends with the JYP group and have an in because my brother’s part of Got7, but that’s all it really is. The Twilight boys have friends but they’re not tied too an alliance either.”

“When are we going to the Inn?” asked Hyunjin interrupting. “Tonight?”

“Yes, tonight,” said Chan nodding. “We’ve got supplies we need to make it to the next port. Better to get them while we know they’re still here. Gather everything you need.” The crew scattered quickly, hurrying to get ready to go. Chan gave Ten directions to the Lady Marietta and the Whiplash boys headed back to their own crew.

Adrenaline ran high as they made their way through the streets to the Rose Garden Inn. It wasn’t much to look at from the outside and was even less to look at from the inside. The lobby was crowded with crews, mostly pirates and mostly European. The man at the bar just beyond the lobby that seemed to function as a bartenders bar, and a front desk smiled at them and looked them up and down.

“ _Welcome to the Rose Garden Inn, looking for a drink or a room?_ ” she asked.

“ _Neither,_ ” said Chan tilting his head. “ _We’re looking for a man called Hendricks?_ ” The man looked surprised and raised an eyebrow.

“ _Captain Hendricks, of the Lady Marietta? He’s over playing cards,_ ” he said, “ _we ain’t looking for trouble._ ”

“ _A pity,_ ” said Chan smirking. “ _We don’t care._ Try to leave the inn standing. _You may want to not be around for this._ ” Felix’s eyes were scanning the room and he smirked when they landed on who must be the quartermaster. He gestured to him lazily with the knife he was holding.

“That is mine,” he stated and the rest of the group nodded making note to stay out of Felix’s way.

“Let’s find ourselves a dead man,” said Chan walking towards the tables where the men were playing cards. The man behind the counter looked somewhat panicked, like he wasn’t sure what to do in this situation. If this was a known establishment for the Navy to stay, it would make sense that they didn’t get a lot of pirates.

“Which one, Minho-yah?” asked Chan as they got closer.

“That one, on the end, with the hat on the back of the chair,” said Minho nodding, voice somewhat tight, Felix’s breathing had picked up slightly as well and Seungmin bumped elbows with him reassuringly, trying to make sure he remembered he was okay, he had them this time. Chan made a beeline for the man on the end and several other sailors from around the room stood up from their tables suddenly on alert realizing that the odd crew of ragtag young men were headed straight for their captain. Hyunjin and Changbin shifted to take the back of the group, so they could cover for the group if necessary. The man, Hendricks, looked up at them annoyed.

“ _Something I can do for you lot? Look like a bunch of little ratty heathens you do. We ain’t recruiting, and certainly not you,_ ” he said. Chan smirked cocking his head.

“ _Captain Hendricks?_ ” he asked.

“ _Aye, who’s asking,_ ” said the man looking surprised but still disdainful.

“ _My name’s Bang Chan, of the Levanter,_ ” said Chan, “ _this is Minho, he’s going to kill you._ ” Hendricks snorted.

“ _What for? I’ve never done anything to anyone. I’mma merchant,_ ” he said. Minho tugged his purple cloth up his arm revealing his brands.

“ _You do not know the numbers?_ ” he stated judgingly. “ _I will kill you. You will take no more children._ ” Hendricks’ mouth pulled up into a sneer and he stared at Chan judgingly.

“ _What sort of weakass sailor can’t keep a fuck toy under control?_ ” he stated condescendingly. Chan kicked the table hard, sending both the sailors sitting at it to the floor, and the table skidding across the room. People yelled and Hyunjin and Changbin shot the first few sailors that attempted to intervene without hesitation. Jisung shuddered and his eyes blinked black and then back to normal quickly.

“ _Felix, fifteen minutes,_ ” he said. Felix grinned wide and laughed delightedly.

“ _More than enough time for dismemberment,_ ” he declared. “ _Want to help, Seungminnie?_ ”

“ _Hell yeah,_ ” said Seungmin nodding. “ _Captain?_ ”

“ _Go for it,_ ” said Chan nodding. Hendricks started to get to his feet only to have one of Chan’s boots land firmly on his chest and his pistol pointed at him.

“ _You said that one was going to kill me,_ ” said Hendricks accusingly, “ _now you’re going to let the little one dismember me?_ ”

“ _Oh you’re not mine. Minho has more right to you than I do,_ ” said Felix shrugging and then turning to the quartermaster. “ _You however get to die a slow painful death. Let’s find out if that new poison works, yeah?_ ” The last was said to Seungmin who agreed enthusiastically and the two of them made their way towards the quartermaster the rest of the room quickly falling to chaos briefly. Chan rolled his eyes and gestured for Minho to take his place and Minho did, pointing his own pistol at the man on the ground.

“ _Oi shut up!_ ” yelled Chan gaining everyone’s attention. “ _We’re only here for the Lady Marietta, if you ain’t with them we don’t give a damn about you. They’d kidnappers and killers and deserve to fucking die. Don’t get in the way or I will make an example out of every last one of you in this fucking inn._ ” It was silent for several long moments.

“ _Fuck it. I don’t give a damn about the Lady Marietta. They got themselves into this situation, that’s on them,_ ” said one of the sailors. “ _My crew wants nothing to do with this._ ” Several other captain or highest ranked crew members available declared the same intentions, many of them clearing out.

“ _I would quite like for my inn to still be standing,_ ” said the man from the bar and Chan rolled his eyes.

“ _You were very helpful, we won’t burn your inn to the ground and will do our best to keep property damage to a minimum, you’re welcome,_ ” said Chan, “ _right then. Carry on._ ” Felix and Seungmin apparently moved quickly as the quartermaster’s screams were the first to break the silence. Chaos descended again but this time it was much more quickly subdued and Chan jumped off the table to stand at Minho’s side.

“How do you want to do this?” asked Chan, “you wanted to slit his throat.”

“I want to pin him to the floor,” said Minho shifting the pistol to the other hand. “Jisung said fifteen minutes? How much is left? I want to make this hurt.”

“Maybe ten,” said Chan, “if that.” Minho nodded and pulled out throwing knives he had borrowed from Felix and strapped to his waist. He tossed them quickly and precisely pinning the large man’s arms to the floor with the knives.

“Can you keep his legs pinned?” asked Minho looking at Chan who nodded and crouched down to hold his legs down. The captain was writhing in pain now and looked murderous. He was screaming profanities and all kinds of derogatory names at Minho. Who grinned at him and shot him twice in the stomach making him scream more.

“ _You dirty fucking whore,_ ” yelled the man followed by a string of worse names as well. Minho walked over to the wall and pulled a large axe off of it. It was slightly dulled at the edge but not by much at all.

“Should’ve hung him, poetic justice and all that,” said Minho tapping the axe lightly against a table as he moved back over. “But this will do.”

“ _He wants to hang you, but that’s far too good a death for you. Can’t feel good to lose your head with a dull axe,_ ” said Chan to Hendricks.

“ _You’ll hang for this! You’ll all hang for this! You’re going to hell!_ ” screamed Hendricks struggling harder but unable to go anywhere from the pain and the blood loss.

“ _Good,_ ” said Minho crouching down next to him. “ _I will tell the devil your sins myself._ ” Hendricks screamed louder trying to move away from Minho.

“ _No! Please! No! Please. I’ll do anything,_ ” he said desperately. “ _I’ll make you rich. Anything you want._ ”

“ _I want my family. I want my life. I want you suffering and dead. Why should I give you anything you would not give me,_ ” said Minho darkly.

“Three minutes to kill him and get out before the guard shows up,” called Jisung. Minho smirked and lifted his sword up.

“ _You don’t understand. You’ll go to hell for this, you don’t want to go to hell for this,_ ” said Hendricks desperately, clearly hoping Minho would be easy to manipulate.

“ _That was hell and you are the devil,_ ” stated Minho firmly and then brought the axe down as hard as he could. Hendricks’ scream choked out abruptly as blood splattered. Minho dropped the axe and stood up, blood on his hands and covering quite a lot of his pants. He was smiling.

“I did it,” he said looking at Chan. “He’s dead. I killed him.” Chan grinned and stood up, blood was splattered over his shoulders and Felix was also soaked in blood when he and Seungmin joined them, Felix’s hand was held tightly in Seungmin’s for reassurance but Felix was smiling brightly.

“We need to leave now,” called Jisung.

“Let’s go!” called Chan moving over towards the door pausing for Minho to catch up and join him, Minho walking right at his shoulder the rest of the group falling into place quickly.

“ _Sorry about the blood,_ ” called Chan to the owner over his shoulder and stepped out into the street. The wind whispered around them and took off harshly the opposite direction of the docks.

“Let’s go,” said Chan breaking into a run towards the docks, “hopefully that will distract the guard long enough for us to get home.” The group sprinted after him quickly, keeping pace easily. No one spoke as they sprinted through the streets, all silently thankful it was dark enough that people weren’t noticing the blood soaked pirates running by them. There was a ship burning brightly on the dock and the Whiplash had pulled out away from the dock and into the sea. The eight of them clamored aboard the Levanter quickly and the wind picked up as Chan started calling directions. They pulled out to sea quickly, away from the port and paused once they were farther out, the Whiplash was still moving and several pirates waved hello but they didn’t stop.

“We need to clean up,” said Chan, “and then we’ll get farther out to sea and celebrate.” The crew agreed cheerfully and everyone hurried to get changed, Changbin and Hyunjin as the least bloody ones started steering the ship further out to sea and switched out as others came up. Soon they were far out into the ocean, the shore long beyond the horizon and Chan called to drop anchor.

“Congratulations, boys, we did it, justice was served,” called Chan, “how about rum and music, then?” The group cheered loudly and soon found themselves in a circle on the deck, passing bottles of rum back and forth and singing loudly, laughter echoing across the ocean. Minho and Felix were sure to have horrendous nightmares tonight after facing some of their worst tormentors, but both carried themselves lighter like weight had been lifted off their shoulders. No other kids would be forced through the Lady Marietta how they were, justice and revenge had been served and it tasted a lot like hard earned and bloody freedom. As the night devolved into dancing Chan wondered what could be waiting in Tortuga. 

It wasn’t unusual for nightmares to wake their crew. They each had their demons and their traumas and after a night like that Chan wasn’t surprised to hear people jerking awake gasping. Jeongin had already claimed the window seat curled up against Jisung, the place he only favored to sleep when he wasn’t feeling completely secure. Seungmin was in the bed with Felix and Minho and Hyunjin in the hammock, Changbin had claimed his usual place curled up in the large chair. They should really just hang a second hammock because surely that wasn’t good for Changbin’s back. Chan had definitely heard Felix jerk awake with a strangled shout, but he had apparently calmed right down as Chan heard whispers that were distinctly Seungmin and then it was silent again. The moon was high in the sky when he heard the next person gasp awake, but there was no shout. Probably Minho. If he didn’t come find Chan or wake one of the others Chan would go check on him in a minute. After a few seconds he heard soft footsteps and then more hurried footsteps and Minho appeared on the deck looking up frantically at the helm and then breathing a sigh of relief.

“Hey, Minnie,” said Chan smiling at him, “want to talk?”

“Needed to know you were still here,” said Minho climbing up the stairs to join Chan next to the wheel. Chan lifted an arm, offering to hold him and Minho let him, slotting himself in against Chan’s side and relaxing into him.

“I dreamt you’d all died. That I killed you all,” said Minho, “I could see the others when I woke up. I needed to see you.”

“You wouldn’t kill us,” said Chan softly. “We’re all okay. Do you want to talk about it?”

“I dreamed I killed you how I killed him. It was very red,” said Minho softly. “A lot of blood. And it wouldn’t come off no matter how much I washed. Like I can’t wash off anyone that ever touched me no matter how hard I scrub. Sometimes I wish I could just take my skin off entirely and start over.”

“I can’t fix that,” said Chan shaking his head, “but I do know how to get rid of blood so that won’t be a problem. And Seungmin was telling me the other day that he’d read the bits that make up your body, cells or whatever, the little bits, they die and regenerate every seven years or so. So someday, you’ll have skin that no one has ever touched but you.” Minho smiled at that.

“I’ll always have the brand though,” he pointed out, “but thank you. That helps a little bit. I’ve just got to out live the bastards now.” Chan laughed.

“You’re one of the strongest people I know. It’ll be easy,” said Chan. Minho dropped his head back to look up at the sky and leaned further into Chan’s side.

“Am I bad person, hyung?” he asked.

“Depends who you ask,” said Chan. “Do you think I’m a bad person?”

“No,” said Minho easily. “Of course not. You’ve saved a lot of people. You saved me. None of us would be here or alive without you. You’re one of the best people in the world.”

“Not according to my blood relatives, not according to any country I have ever lived or worked under,” said Chan, “to almost everyone but you all and the pirates I know, I’m one of the worst of the worst and should hang for it. Goodness and badness is relative, I suppose. Not everyone is all good or all bad. And where you fall on the line depends on how you want to judge it. By our morals and even most pirates we’re pretty firmly in the good. By anyone from ‘civilized’ society we’re some of the worst of the worst. How would you like to judge? Whose opinion matters to you?” Minho was quiet for a few minutes.

“Yours I suppose,” he said finally lifting his head again so he was looking at Chan rather than the sky. “What do you think?”

“I think you’re one of the best people I know and one of the most terrifying for being one of our least violent crew members,” said Chan smiling.

“I killed and tortured a man,” said Minho, “a man with a wife and kids.”

“You killed and tortured a man who made your life living hell, Min,” said Chan softly. “He was a terrible person who has hurt and killed and tortured hundreds if not thousands of kids and teens like you and Felix. He deserved far worse than what you did. Do you regret it?”

“I don’t regret he’s dead or how I killed him. It was very satisfying,” said Minho shaking his head. “I regret the family he left behind.”

“I can’t imagine a man like that would treat his family well,” said Chan quietly. “Seungmin’s dad was terrible to him and not anywhere near as awful as Hendricks was. And he was cheating on his wife. He reeked of the brothel when we killed him, Min.” Minho grimaced and nodded.

“They’ll be okay, he’s left a fortune behind for them and the world is better off without him,” said Chan, “don’t worry about the people you can’t control, just worry about the one that deserved what he had coming. There’s always going to be collateral damage. It’s how the world works. Why everything is sort of gray when it comes to good and bad. We’re the good guys in our story and in all the other people he’s hurt, kidnapped, and tortured. And we’re the bad guys in his story, in the Navy and the crew and the inn keeper and his family’s story. The nice thing about being a pirate is getting to pick what side of the story you would like to be on. I chose this side, I’m happy with my choice. I’d rather be free and the good guy in yours and Felix’s and Jisung’s, Changbin’s, Hyunjin’s, Jeongin’s, and Seungmin’s stories and the bad guy in my grandparents story than be the good grandson they wanted.”

“Are you sure it was justice? I can’t help thinking it was just revenge,” said Minho quietly.

“He hadn’t hurt only you,” said Chan, “he would have kept hurting more and more people for years and years. So, yes, I’m sure it was justice. It was a little of revenge too, closure for you and Felix. You feel better having done it?”

“Yes,” said Minho, “I’m glad he’s gone and I’m happy it hurt. He was awful. Really awful. Part of me wishes there’d been time to make it hurt more. It’d have been nice to castrate him. I just can’t help but wonder if my mother would be disappointed in me.” Chan raised his eyebrows surprised. Minho didn’t talk about his family from before, he barely remembered his life before the Lady Marietta.

“From what I know of mothers, good mothers, ones like what you’ve said yours was like from what you know,” said Chan, “if we had told her we were going to kill the man that had hurt you, she’d have been first in line with an axe to take his head. Probably would have mounted it on the wall too. Felix’s mother would kill for him, would have joined us if Felix had told her. I know he’s mentioned to Hyunjin that he didn’t tell her because he didn’t want her risking leaving Sydney for that. Hyunjin’s mother died protecting him so did Changbin’s parents. My mother fought her parents to keep me with her until she died. Seungmin’s mother went behind her husband’s back to get him books on everything he could ever want. Your mother would have been the first in line to kill that monster, Minho. She’s not disappointed in you and I’m sure your father would have been right beside her.” Minho smiled.

“Do you think Felix’s mom is nice?” he asked.

“Well, she raised Felix and Felix is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met,” said Chan nodding.

“He said she wants to adopt all of us, I guess Felix told her we’re all brothers,” said Minho, “think she’s serious.”

“Uh, knowing Felix I would say she’s dead serious,” said Chan chuckling. “We’ll make sure we’re back in Sydney in a year like we said we would be. I’m sure she’ll be very nice and I’m sure Felix’s dad is great too. Don’t worry about things you can’t control, alright? And don’t worry about what could have been or what might be coming. As long as we’re together it’ll be alright.” Minho nodded smiling.

“You’re really good at this,” he told Chan who laughed.

“I just know how your brain works, Minho-yah,” he said. “I know how to help you work through things by now. Don’t worry about what people who have never met you think. We think you’re badass and we love you.”

“Thanks, hyung,” said Minho softly.

“Of course,” said Chan nodding and shifting the wheel slightly to keep them on course.

“What do you think is waiting for us in Tortuga?” asked Minho.

“I have no idea,” said Chan shaking his head. “I guess we’ll see.” The deck fell quiet once more, the wind whispering around them. There was a pull to keep moving forward again. Adventure was coming and they would face it together. 

**Author's Note:**

> a few things before y'all go :D 
> 
> obviously i've still got a little more planned for this series :D this is the end of this specific story arc, so i might pick a different song for the titles for the next arc 
> 
> i'm debating whether i want to do a fic here or there that's about NCT or Ateez because i have like vague ideas so that might happen in the future for this series we'll see 
> 
> next thing!!! all my history info is stuff i found online sorry if it's wrong :/ i did my best but like we are taking liberties here so it fits for the story. also i don't know much about henna so if i've messed that up i'd love to learn, i know my friends from cultures that use do it for other people and have offered to do it for me before and everything i found online said that too if it's not okay for what i've got written please let me know and let me know how it could be fixed :) i really only included it because it's pretty and kind of cool and i needed a reason for Felix's brand to be showing when they ran into nct 
> 
> i thought everyone should know that the working title for the document for this was cool motive still murder 
> 
> this is of course not edited because nothing ever is 
> 
> i think that's everything 
> 
> thank you for reading! :) love you all ♡♡♡


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